This aircraft is the initial X-35 ever built. It was originally the X-35A and was modified to contain the lift-fan engine for testing of the STOVL idea. Among its many test records, this aircraft was the very first in history to achieve a quick takeoff, level supersonic dash, and vertical landing in a single flight. It is also the first aircraft to fly making use of a shaft-driven lift-fan propulsion system. The X-35B flight test program was 1 of the shortest, most successful in history, lasting from June 23, 2001 to August six, 2001.

The lift-fan propulsion method is now displayed next to the X-35B at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center close to Dulles Airport.

On July 7, 2006, the production model F-35 was officially named F-35 Lightning II by T. Michael Moseley, Chief of Employees USAF.

Physical Description:
Brief takeoff/vertical landing variant to be used by U.S. Air Force, U.S. Marines and the United Kingdom, equipped with a shaft-driven lift fan propulsion system which enables the aircraft to take off from a brief runway or tiny aircraft carrier and to land vertically.
Engine: Pratt &amp Whitney JSF 119-PW-611 turbofan deflects thrust downward for quick takeoff/vertical landing capability. The Air Force and Navy versions use a thrust-vectoring exhaust nozzle. The Marine Corps and Royal Air Force/Navy version has a swivel-duct nozzle an engine-driven fan behind the cockpit and air-reaction manage valves in the wings to give stability at low speeds.
Other significant subcontractors are Rolls Royce and BAE.

The Navy’s experience in the Korean War showed the require for a new extended-variety strike aircraft with high subsonic performance at quite low altitude–an aircraft that could penetrate enemy defenses and find and destroy modest targets in any weather. The Grumman A-six Intruder was developed with these wants in mind. The Intruder initial flew in 1960 and was delivered to the Navy in 1963 and the Marine Corps in 1964.

The Navy accepted this airplane as an &quotA&quot model in 1968. It served beneath harsh combat situations in the skies over Vietnam and is a veteran of the 1991 Desert Storm campaign, when it flew missions throughout the very first 72 hours of the war. It has accumulated much more than 7,500 flying hours, more than six,500 landings, 767 carrier landings, and 712 catapult launches.

The U.S. Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps and the air forces of 12 other nations have flown the multi-function Phantom II. In this aircraft, then a Navy F-4J, on June 21, 1972, Cmdr. S. C. Flynn and his radar intercept officer, Lt. W. H. John, spotted three enemy MiG fighters off the coast of Vietnam and shot down a single MiG-21 with a Sidewinder air-to-air missile. This Phantom also flew combat air patrols and bombing missions for the duration of the Linebacker II bombing campaign that very same year.

Later assigned to the Marine Corps, this F-4J was extensively modernized and designated an F-4S. Changes integrated improving the engines (smokeless), hydraulics, electronics, and wiring modifying the wings to boost maneuverability and adding a radar homing and warning antenna, as effectively as formation tape lights on the fuselage and vertical tail.

The F-105 was developed as a supersonic, single-seat, fighter-bomber capable of carrying nuclear weapons or heavy bomb loads at supersonic speeds. The F-105D variant was an all-weather fighter-bomber version, fitted with mono-pulse and Doppler radar for evening or bad climate operations. The original weapons bay, created for nuclear stores, was sealed and fitted with further fuel tanks. Bombs had been carried on numerous weapons racks on the centerline of the fuselage, and on wing pylons. The aircraft was fitted with a retractable in-flight refueling probe. The initial F-105D flew on 9 June 1959 and 610 F-105Ds have been ultimately constructed.

This aircraft has served in several F-105 units about the planet and is restored to its 1967 Vietnam-era 388th Tactical Fighter Wing, 421st Tactical Fighter Squadron camouflage as it flew for the duration of its assignment to Korat RTAB, Thailand. This jet also was briefly assigned to the 355 TFW situated at Takhli RTAB in 1968. Right after this &quotThud&quot completed its combat tour-which surely included missions supporting Operation &quotRolling Thunder,&quot &quotSteel Tiger,&quot and &quotBarrel Roll&quot-it returned stateside and began a lot more than a decade assigned to the District of Columbia Air National Guard and was transferred to the Air and Space Museum in late 1981.

Beginning in 1962, the H-34 served as the major Marine Corps assault helicopter of the Vietnam War until its replacement by the turbine-powered CH-46. It began in 1952 as a Navy anti-submarine warfare helicopter evolved from the Sikorsky S-55 series. Initially designated as the HSS-1, it would also go on to see substantial service in the combat assault and utility roles with the Army and Marine Corps. Fantastic Britain and France also deployed versions in some of the 1st helicopter combat assault operations.

A large payload capacity and generous center-of-gravity variety made the H-34 series an efficient transport helicopter for the1950s. Its weaknesses were a reciprocating engine that struggled in the heat and humidity of Southeast Asia and maintenance intensive mechanical components. This Marine Corps UH-34D in no way served overseas, but wears the markings of Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 163 that did see extensive combat in Vietnam.

Physical Description:
All gear that came with the helicopter that is not attached to it is contained in box A19750823002 with the exception of two things. The VIP actions that attach to the side of the aircraft and the extended-handled tool to help with main rotor blade deployment are stored inside the helicopter’s cabin.

In 1956, the Iroquois, frequently known as the Huey, 1st flew as an Army replacement for the H-13 medevac helicopter of Korean War fame. By the end of the 20th century, Bell had developed a lot more Hueys than any other American military aircraft, except for the Consolidated B-24. Superbly suited to the air mobility and medical evacuation missions in Vietnam, the Huey became an indelible symbol of that conflict.

This UH-1 compiled a distinguished combat record in Vietnam from 1966 to 1970 with 4 units, like the 229th Assault Helicopter Battalion of the 1st Cavalry and the 118th and 128th Assault Helicopter Businesses. Several patches on its skin attest to the ferocity of missions flown even though operating as a &quotSmoke Ship,&quot laying down smokescreens for air assault operations with the 11th Combat Aviation Battalion.

No reconnaissance aircraft in history has operated globally in much more hostile airspace or with such full impunity than the SR-71, the world’s quickest jet-propelled aircraft. The Blackbird’s overall performance and operational achievements placed it at the pinnacle of aviation technology developments for the duration of the Cold War.

This Blackbird accrued about 2,800 hours of flight time for the duration of 24 years of active service with the U.S. Air Force. On its final flight, March 6, 1990, Lt. Col. Ed Yielding and Lt. Col. Joseph Vida set a speed record by flying from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C., in 1 hour, four minutes, and 20 seconds, averaging 3,418 kilometers (2,124 miles) per hour. At the flight’s conclusion, they landed at Washington-Dulles International Airport and turned the airplane over to the Smithsonian.

Extended Description:
No reconnaissance aircraft in history has operated in more hostile airspace or with such complete impunity than the SR-71 Blackbird. It is the fastest aircraft propelled by air-breathing engines. The Blackbird’s performance and operational achievements placed it at the pinnacle of aviation technologies developments during the Cold War. The airplane was conceived when tensions with communist Eastern Europe reached levels approaching a complete-blown crisis in the mid-1950s. U.S. military commanders desperately necessary precise assessments of Soviet worldwide military deployments, especially near the Iron Curtain. Lockheed Aircraft Corporation’s subsonic U-two (see NASM collection) reconnaissance aircraft was an capable platform but the U. S. Air Force recognized that this relatively slow aircraft was already vulnerable to Soviet interceptors. They also understood that the rapid improvement of surface-to-air missile systems could put U-2 pilots at grave risk. The danger proved reality when a U-two was shot down by a surface to air missile more than the Soviet Union in 1960.

Lockheed’s very first proposal for a new high speed, higher altitude, reconnaissance aircraft, to be capable of avoiding interceptors and missiles, centered on a design and style propelled by liquid hydrogen. This proved to be impracticable because of considerable fuel consumption. Lockheed then reconfigured the design and style for conventional fuels. This was feasible and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), already flying the Lockheed U-2, issued a production contract for an aircraft designated the A-12. Lockheed’s clandestine ‘Skunk Works’ division (headed by the gifted design and style engineer Clarence L. &quotKelly&quot Johnson) created the A-12 to cruise at Mach three.2 and fly effectively above 18,288 m (60,000 feet). To meet these challenging requirements, Lockheed engineers overcame several daunting technical challenges. Flying more than three occasions the speed of sound generates 316° C (600° F) temperatures on external aircraft surfaces, which are sufficient to melt standard aluminum airframes. The style team chose to make the jet’s external skin of titanium alloy to which shielded the internal aluminum airframe. Two standard, but extremely effective, afterburning turbine engines propelled this outstanding aircraft. These energy plants had to operate across a huge speed envelope in flight, from a takeoff speed of 334 kph (207 mph) to much more than three,540 kph (2,200 mph). To avert supersonic shock waves from moving inside the engine intake causing flameouts, Johnson’s group had to style a complex air intake and bypass system for the engines.

Skunk Operates engineers also optimized the A-12 cross-section style to exhibit a low radar profile. Lockheed hoped to obtain this by cautiously shaping the airframe to reflect as small transmitted radar power (radio waves) as achievable, and by application of unique paint created to absorb, rather than reflect, those waves. This therapy became a single of the 1st applications of stealth technologies, but it in no way entirely met the design and style goals.

Test pilot Lou Schalk flew the single-seat A-12 on April 24, 1962, right after he became airborne accidentally throughout high-speed taxi trials. The airplane showed wonderful guarantee but it needed considerable technical refinement prior to the CIA could fly the very first operational sortie on Might 31, 1967 – a surveillance flight more than North Vietnam. A-12s, flown by CIA pilots, operated as element of the Air Force’s 1129th Particular Activities Squadron under the &quotOxcart&quot system. Although Lockheed continued to refine the A-12, the U. S. Air Force ordered an interceptor version of the aircraft designated the YF-12A. The Skunk Performs, nevertheless, proposed a &quotspecific mission&quot version configured to conduct post-nuclear strike reconnaissance. This technique evolved into the USAF’s familiar SR-71.

Lockheed constructed fifteen A-12s, which includes a special two-seat trainer version. Two A-12s had been modified to carry a particular reconnaissance drone, designated D-21. The modified A-12s have been redesignated M-21s. These had been made to take off with the D-21 drone, powered by a Marquart ramjet engine mounted on a pylon among the rudders. The M-21 then hauled the drone aloft and launched it at speeds higher sufficient to ignite the drone’s ramjet motor. Lockheed also constructed 3 YF-12As but this kind in no way went into production. Two of the YF-12As crashed throughout testing. Only one survives and is on display at the USAF Museum in Dayton, Ohio. The aft section of a single of the &quotwritten off&quot YF-12As which was later employed along with an SR-71A static test airframe to manufacture the sole SR-71C trainer. One particular SR-71 was lent to NASA and designated YF-12C. Such as the SR-71C and two SR-71B pilot trainers, Lockheed constructed thirty-two Blackbirds. The first SR-71 flew on December 22, 1964. Because of intense operational fees, military strategists decided that the more capable USAF SR-71s should replace the CIA’s A-12s. These had been retired in 1968 right after only one particular year of operational missions, mostly more than southeast Asia. The Air Force’s 1st Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron (component of the 9th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing) took more than the missions, flying the SR-71 starting in the spring of 1968.

Following the Air Force started to operate the SR-71, it acquired the official name Blackbird– for the specific black paint that covered the airplane. This paint was formulated to absorb radar signals, to radiate some of the tremendous airframe heat generated by air friction, and to camouflage the aircraft against the dark sky at higher altitudes.

Experience gained from the A-12 program convinced the Air Force that flying the SR-71 safely necessary two crew members, a pilot and a Reconnaissance Systems Officer (RSO). The RSO operated with the wide array of monitoring and defensive systems installed on the airplane. This equipment integrated a sophisticated Electronic Counter Measures (ECM) technique that could jam most acquisition and targeting radar. In addition to an array of sophisticated, high-resolution cameras, the aircraft could also carry gear developed to record the strength, frequency, and wavelength of signals emitted by communications and sensor devices such as radar. The SR-71 was created to fly deep into hostile territory, avoiding interception with its tremendous speed and higher altitude. It could operate safely at a maximum speed of Mach 3.3 at an altitude far more than sixteen miles, or 25,908 m (85,000 ft), above the earth. The crew had to wear stress suits equivalent to these worn by astronauts. These suits had been required to protect the crew in the occasion of sudden cabin stress loss even though at operating altitudes.

To climb and cruise at supersonic speeds, the Blackbird’s Pratt &amp Whitney J-58 engines have been developed to operate constantly in afterburner. Whilst this would seem to dictate high fuel flows, the Blackbird really accomplished its ideal &quotgas mileage,&quot in terms of air nautical miles per pound of fuel burned, for the duration of the Mach 3+ cruise. A common Blackbird reconnaissance flight may possibly need numerous aerial refueling operations from an airborne tanker. Every time the SR-71 refueled, the crew had to descend to the tanker’s altitude, normally about 6,000 m to 9,000 m (20,000 to 30,000 ft), and slow the airplane to subsonic speeds. As velocity decreased, so did frictional heat. This cooling effect brought on the aircraft’s skin panels to shrink considerably, and those covering the fuel tanks contracted so considerably that fuel leaked, forming a distinctive vapor trail as the tanker topped off the Blackbird. As soon as the tanks had been filled, the jet’s crew disconnected from the tanker, relit the afterburners, and once again climbed to high altitude.

Air Force pilots flew the SR-71 from Kadena AB, Japan, all through its operational career but other bases hosted Blackbird operations, too. The 9th SRW sometimes deployed from Beale AFB, California, to other areas to carryout operational missions. Cuban missions have been flown directly from Beale. The SR-71 did not start to operate in Europe until 1974, and then only temporarily. In 1982, when the U.S. Air Force based two aircraft at Royal Air Force Base Mildenhall to fly monitoring mission in Eastern Europe.

When the SR-71 became operational, orbiting reconnaissance satellites had already replaced manned aircraft to collect intelligence from internet sites deep inside Soviet territory. Satellites could not cover each and every geopolitical hotspot so the Blackbird remained a crucial tool for international intelligence gathering. On numerous occasions, pilots and RSOs flying the SR-71 offered data that proved vital in formulating productive U. S. foreign policy. Blackbird crews supplied crucial intelligence about the 1973 Yom Kippur War, the Israeli invasion of Lebanon and its aftermath, and pre- and post-strike imagery of the 1986 raid performed by American air forces on Libya. In 1987, Kadena-primarily based SR-71 crews flew a number of missions over the Persian Gulf, revealing Iranian Silkworm missile batteries that threatened industrial shipping and American escort vessels.

As the functionality of space-based surveillance systems grew, along with the effectiveness of ground-primarily based air defense networks, the Air Force started to shed enthusiasm for the expensive system and the 9th SRW ceased SR-71 operations in January 1990. In spite of protests by military leaders, Congress revived the program in 1995. Continued wrangling over operating budgets, however, quickly led to final termination. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration retained two SR-71As and the a single SR-71B for higher-speed study projects and flew these airplanes until 1999.

On March six, 1990, the service profession of one Lockheed SR-71A Blackbird ended with a record-setting flight. This particular airplane bore Air Force serial number 64-17972. Lt. Col. Ed Yeilding and his RSO, Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Vida, flew this aircraft from Los Angeles to Washington D.C. in 1 hour, four minutes, and 20 seconds, averaging a speed of 3,418 kph (two,124 mph). At the conclusion of the flight, ‘972 landed at Dulles International Airport and taxied into the custody of the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum. At that time, Lt. Col. Vida had logged 1,392.7 hours of flight time in Blackbirds, far more than that of any other crewman.

This distinct SR-71 was also flown by Tom Alison, a former National Air and Space Museum’s Chief of Collections Management. Flying with Detachment 1 at Kadena Air Force Base, Okinawa, Alison logged far more than a dozen ‘972 operational sorties. The aircraft spent twenty-four years in active Air Force service and accrued a total of two,801.1 hours of flight time.